Dear Editor:

Much has been said about fighting crime in Belize, but whatever strategy the government employs the situation will reach Nash equilibrium — a stable state of a system involving the interaction of different participants in which no participant can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the others remain unchanged. This means it will become ineffective; it might work for about two years but the criminals will adapt. It is mathematical.

The government is a finite player trying to decrease crime for political gain while the criminals are infinite players playing to continue their way of life. Whenever a finite player goes up against an infinite player the finite player eventually loses, like the United States (finite player) & Vietnam (infinite player).

A strategy like Sun Tzu prescribed, one that subdues the enemy without fighting, has to be implemented. Social protection for poor people. The present situation in Belize leaves the poor to struggle to survive. Many take to crime because the education system seems difficult, uncertain and irrelevant.

No successful democratic country can thrive without a welfare system. The US, Europe, India, all have a robust welfare system — without it their crime problems would be far worse than Belize’s. Social protection (welfare) is only a bridge to creating a just society. Schools that have students from low socioeconomic status need excess funding and programs. How could Belize be asking for reparations when it treats certain classes of its own citizens as if they have little value?

Finally, the ideology of taking care of others to make a better self must be adopted. Martin Luther King said, “live as brothers or perish as fools.” This unjust system we live in needs to be gradually improved. Tackling crime in isolation is futile!

Yours truly,
Brian Ellis Plummer